TUF Nations competitor Tyler Manawaroa will not get a UFC contract at the end of the current TUF season, no matter how well he does in the show. The UFC announced the decision after the Canadian team member Kajan Johnson called out Tyler Manawaroa publicly over a ‘racist’ photo.
The photo which has since been deleted from instagram was made 18-months ago when the youngster was only 17 years-old.
Bleacher Report received the following statement from the UFC.
“The UFC organization had hired an investigation company in Australia to conduct thorough background investigations on potential contestants for ‘The Ultimate Fighter Nations’ television series,” the UFC statement read. “Unfortunately, the background checks did not uncover all of the social media history by contestant Tyler Manawaroa. The UFC is committed to having an environment that is free from discrimination. Consequently, UFC has notified Manawaroa that regardless of how far he advances in the completed television series, the organization will not be offering him a contract to compete in the UFC.”
A post apologising for the photo has appeared on Tyler Manawaroa’s facebook page indicating that it was supposed to be just a joke. The tweets from Kajan Johnson have since also disappeared.
Support for the youngster has been fairly overwhelming with a facebook page titled ‘UFC have made a mistake with Tyler Manawaroa‘, having cracked over 4,000 likes in less than 24-hours which includes support from some of Australia’s leading fighters.
The big question will now be as to how far does Manawaroa goes in the reality show. If he does make the finale and wins the fight, do we see the UFC really crowning him the series champion, before releasing him? Let’s hope not.
